Thesis Agreements

Version: 2016-10-06


The section My papers > My agreements is designed to support the workflow of supervising scientific papers. An agreement can be accessed by the student, his/ her supervisors, the deans of studies and the Examinations Office.

Read the overview to learn the answers to the questions What is an agreement?, What does the workflow look like?, What are the tasks of the student?, Who can access the agreements?, How does LFU:online support me?, When will I receive email reminders?.

Contents

Overview
What is an agreement?

Definition
The University of Innsbruck distinguishes doctoral thesis agreements and master's/ diploma thesis agreements.

The master's or diploma thesis agreement is a written agreement between a master's or diploma programme student and his/ her supervisor. It contains the thesis' title, scope and form and defines the steps and time range to complete the thesis.

The doctoral thesis agreement is a written agreement between a doctoral student and his/ her supervisors. It contains the thesis' title, scope and form and defines the rules to assure state of the art quality standards in the respective field. It also defines the steps and time range to complete the thesis. (Statute of the University of Innsbruck, par. 25a)

Goal
The online agreement is designed to support supervisors in their tasks. It keeps track of all steps of the process: if an element is modified, the earlier version is still retained. Thus the online agreement is a bit like a log file.

The agreement gives a reminder when a deadline has been missed and thus helps to complete tasks in a timely manner.

You can create elements to define new tasks. Everybody involved in the agreement will then receive an automated email notification.

What does the workflow look like?

Start
The online agreement is generated as soon as the student officially acknowledges the start of his/ her thesis in the Examinations Office. Everybody involved (student, supervisors and assistants) will be notified by email and can then access the online agreement.


Writing the thesis
Use the section My papers > My agreements to create elements. The elements synopsis, schedule and comment help to define the framework of the thesis.

Some elements (meeting, courses, synopsis and schedule) have been created automatically and must be filled with data within four weeks.


The supervisors use the University's administrative software VIS:online to create elements and to define their tasks. The student is notified by email as soon as a new element has been created or an existing element has been modified.

If deadlines are missed, LFU:online gives an email reminder.

End
The online agreement is completed as soon as the Examinations Office enters the thesis' grade into the system. You need not take any further action.

What are the tasks of the student?

If you are a doctoral student you have to upload a synopsis and define the overall time schedule by entering single schedules.

Everybody involved in the agreement can make comments on any other element.

Who can access the agreements?

An agreement is stipulated by the supervisors and the student. Basically, only those persons involved in the agreement may access its data.

Supervisors may access all agreements through the VIS:online module for which they are nominated as supervisors. Supervisors can create the elements courses, meeting and comment.

As a student, you can access your agreements through the student portal LFU:online. You can create the elements synopsis, schedule and comment.

The deans of studies - the highest authority of a faculty in student affairs - can access the agreements of their faculties. They cannot create or modify elements. The University's academic director can access all agreements of the university.

The Examinations Office is the competent authority for students' exams and can thus access all agreements and also create elements.

How does LFU:online support me?

LFU:online keeps everybody up-to-date on all activities and reminds you of missed dates and deadlines. LFU:online acts as an agent between student and supervisors.

You will be notified by email when an element has been modified or a new element has been created. There will be no more than one notificaton per day.
LFU:online sends an email reminder if a date or deadline has been missed. Due dates are marked red in the online agreement.

When will I receive email reminders?

LFU:online sends email reminders to all parties involved when a deadline has been missed. You will receive the reminder even if the due element is to be edited by somebody else.

Example:
A meeting that has been set by a supervisor has fallen due and has not been marked as completed. The supervisor and the student will each receive an email reminder.
Due dates are marked red in the online agreement.

Create elements

You can create various elements to define your tasks. Click the button Create new element and choose an element.

Comment

The element can be created and modified by supervisors and students.

A comment can refer to any element. Use a comment to make suggestions, show your approval or disapproval or to describe a task. It is up to you when and how you use this element. The element comment is most flexible in use.


  • Click the button Create new element and select Comment.
  • Enter your comment.
  • Click the button Save.

Courses

The element courses can only be created and modified by the supervisors.

You must attend certain courses during your studies. In the case of doctoral programmes, those courses belong to the modules Generic Skills and Scientific Basics/Core Skills of the Thesis Topic. The supervisor states for which module the courses must be passed.


The supervisor compiles a list of courses that you will have to attend. It is up to the supervisor if he/ she names specific courses or if he/ she just states certain topics that must be covered.

Meeting

The element meeting can only be created and modified by the supervisors.

A meeting consists of a date, location and its goals. Supervisors use this element to plan a meeting with you and to record its outcome. It is up to the supervisors how specific they are - they can take only a few notes or keep detailed minutes.


After the meeting the supervisor must set the status of the element to completed (Change status).

LFU:online gives you an email reminder if a meeting has been missed. The meeting will then be marked red in the online agreement.

Schedule

The element schedule can only be created and modified by the student.

A schedule consists of a description on how you plan to complete a certain task and of a time range set for the completion. The overall schedule is made up of a number of single schedules.


  • Click the button Create new element and select Schedule.
  • Enter the start and end date of the task and describe the activities planned.
  • Click the button Save.
On completing the relevant tasks of the schedule you must set the status to completed.

LFU:online gives you an email reminder if a schedule is overdue. The schedule is then marked red in the online agreement.

Synopsis

The element synopsis can only be created and modified by the student.

The synopsis consists of a description of the scientific paper. The minimum length is 1 page, the maximum length is 5 pages. The synopsis must be uploaded as a file in LFU:online.


  • Select the element Synopsis.
  • Upload the synopsis as a PDF. If the file is not a PDF you must first convert it into a PDF. You can use free software like the PDFCreator - Download free software from the university's software pool (German only).
  • In the field Status select the entry completed.
  • Click on the button Save.

System info

The element system info is created by LFU:online. You cannot modify it.


The system info is created in the following events:

  • Agreement generated: you have acknowledged the start of the thesis in the Examinations Office.
  • Change of topic: you have changed the topic of your thesis.
  • Change of supervisors: a supervisor has been added/ removed. Changing the main supervisor automatically terminates the current agreement.
  • Agreement terminated: you have cancelled the thesis or changed the main supervisor.
  • Substitution added/ deleted: a supervisor may authorise somebody else to access the agreement.
The system info thus keeps everybody involved up-to-date on important events.

Edit elements

You can edit an element only if you have created it.


  • For the element that you want to edit, click on the link Edit.
  • Modify the element.
  • Click on the button Save.

Change status

Some elements fall due on a defined date (schedules, meetings) - for those elements you must change the status to mark the task as completed:

  • For the element whose status you want to change, click on the link Edit.
  • In the field Status select the entry completed.
  • Click on the button Save.

Revision history

The online agreement can be seen as a log file - every single step must be traceable. For this reason earlier versions of an element are still available:


  • Click on the tab page Revision history.
  • Earlier versions of the element are displayed in a list.

Delete elements

Elements cannot be deleted completely! The online agreement is a consistent record of every single process step.

However, you can set an element's status to deleted. The deleted element is crossed out in the list view but can still be accessed. Note that there is no undelete function.


  • For the element that you want to delete, click on the link Delete.
  • Confirm that you want to delete the element.
You can delete an element only if you have created it.